| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Anne’s Image of the Day: Spiral Galaxy NGC 3521
read more at Anne’s Astronomy News http://annesastronomynews.com/
July 26, 2013
NGC 3521, a spiral galaxy in Leo
Image Credit & Copyright: R. Jay GaBany, Cosmotography (http://www.cosmotography.com)
NGC 3521 (sometimes called the Bubble Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy of some 50,000 light-years across, located a mere 26.2 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Leo (the Lion), while it is receding from us at approximately 801 kilometers per second.
The galaxy has a morphological classification of SAB(rs)bc, which indicates that it is a spiral galaxy with a trace of a bar structure (SAB), a weak inner ring (rs), and moderate to loosely wound arm structure (bc).
The multiple spiral arms of NGC 3521 are somewhat patchy and irregular, which makes it a so-called flocculent spiral galaxy. These galaxies exhibit “fluffy”, discontinuous spiral arms that differ from the sweeping, well-defined arms of grand-design spiral galaxies. About 30 percent of all spiral galaxies discovered so far are flocculent.
NGC 3521 has a massive, bright, and extremely compact nucleus full of stars which is nearly 3/4 the size of the bar. The galaxy’s irregular spiral arms are very long, laced with obscuring dark dust lanes, patchy, pink areas of intense stellar formation and clusters of young, blue stars. Redder, older stars dominate the reddish area in the center while young, hot blue stars permeate the arms further away from the core.
Striking in this image is that NGC 3521 is embedded in extensive debris shells, like a vast, cosmic bubble – hence its nickname. These shells are tidal streams of stars from the accretion of one or more satellite galaxies that have undergone mergers with NGC 3521 in the distant past.
This image was produced with a RCOS half meter telescope, an Apogee Alta U16M camera and Astrodon E-Series filters. Exposure lengths were 570 minutes Luminance, 240 minutes Red, 240 minutes Green and 240 minutes Blue (All 1X1).
n/a
Source: http://annesastronomynews.com/annes-image-of-the-day-spiral-galaxy-ngc-3521/
